July 15: With bypolls to the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency expected to be announced soon, late BJP MP and Bollywood actor Vinod Khanna’s widow Kavita Khanna has upped the ante to stake her claim on the seat represented by her husband four times.

Amid intense lobbying by state BJP leaders to get the party ticket for the bypoll, Kavita, who lives in Mumbai, has been regularly visiting the constituency after Khanna’s death in April this year and meeting people of the constituency and BJP workers.

Vinod Khanna was elected from Gudaspur in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2014. In 2014, he defeated Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa by a margin of 1.46 lakh votes.

A graduate from London School of Economics, Kavita has taken the route of social service to connect with the people.

“The people of this region are not new to me. My husband has represented this segment four times and we have a house in Pathankot as well. My husband had family ties with the constituents and the people of this area love us,” said Kavita.